14 replies to this topic

[FSTP]

Disclaimer : This is more of a thought experiment but perhaps someone may have tried it in a practical sense. 

 

So I was wondering what you experienced ant keepers thought about forcing a queen less colony into accepting a queen?

 

For this scenario lets just say a species of Pogonomyremex since it seems its easy to obtain large quantities of workers.

 

SO you've captured a queen. You take said queen and contain her in a small confined "cartridge" with mesh paneling so she can actively be reached by the workers antennae but the mesh is small enough so they can not sting and kill her. Your nest is set up so that this cartridge is hot swappable into the nest while there are many workers in it.

 

What are the chances/likelihood this horde of workers can acclimate to her over a period of time and accept her as their own queen to which one could release her from this cartridge and not have her instantly abdicate?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ricardo]

Unlikely but possible. I know a guy who can fuse any sp. .

[Batspiderfish]

Such as a social parasite?

[FSTP]

Such as a social parasite?

I would consider that out of bounds since it happens naturally and I'm wondering more about unnatural pairing of queen and worker.

[antgenius123]

Unlikely but possible. Really depends on how the workers analyse everything about the queen. If they sense weakness they'll usually kill a queen. Although AntsCanada has tried this many times so it may be worth watching some of their videos.

[Serafine]

Usually it is best to cool down the workers so they get more lazy and dizzy, this drastically increases the chance of them accepting the queen. Probably the best time to do this is during hibernation so the queen has a longer time to take over the colony scent.

[FSTP]

Unlikely but possible. Really depends on how the workers analyse everything about the queen. If they sense weakness they'll usually kill a queen. Although AntsCanada has tried this many times so it may be worth watching some of their videos.

 

that's why in this "thought experiment" the queen is protected in a mesh walled cartridge so she can't be killed by the workers. 

 

 

Usually it is best to cool down the workers so they get more lazy and dizzy, this drastically increases the chance of them accepting the queen. Probably the best time to do this is during hibernation so the queen has a longer time to take over the colony scent.

 

that's a good idea. That try well may make the workers more receptive to her sent since they will be in a more passive state.

[Batspiderfish]

The common understanding of ant society being governed so much by their colony identity odor is likely a misunderstanding. This experiment might work for reasons beyond our ability to analyze, or it might just fail as we all expect.

[MichiganAnts]

You have to make sure all workers are young. There is a guy on the any fb group who has different species of compo living together.

This week I caught a T. Sessile colony that had 2 Laaius queens.no T Sessile queens

Edited by W1Z25, January 6 2017 - 3:11 PM.

[Canadian anter]

It depends on the age of the workers and what species they are. Supercolony species and most species that experience pleometrotism are the best candidates such as Tapinoma, Lasius and prenolepis. An even better choice might be species that undergo oligogyny which actively take in new queens such as some Formica rufa group species and Temnothorax. On age, generally the younger the better. callows would be ideal

[LC3]

Usually it is best to cool down the workers so they get more lazy and dizzy, this drastically increases the chance of them accepting the queen. Probably the best time to do this is during hibernation so the queen has a longer time to take over the colony scent.

 

This method isn't even guaranteed to work for polygynous ants, especially with queens it's not a "Get past the barrier and your safe" situation. Frankly a queen won't be accepted just because she smells like the rest of the colony, she is a queen after all. 

Edited by LC3, January 6 2017 - 3:26 PM.

[Kevin]

This would definitely not work for formic acid sprayers, the queen would die. I think this is possible, but is most likely to vary by species.

[Connectimyrmex]

Unlikely but possible. I know a guy who can fuse any sp. .

Any species? Like Acromyrmex and Dorylus? That would be the OP combo. Farming and killer badgasters.

[FSTP]

The premise wasn't about combining different species. It was about combining a singular queen with a queen less set of workers of the same species.

[Batspiderfish]

Not to derail the topic a whole lot more, but I thought I should mention that while it is achievable to mix pupae of different species or even genera of ants together, the workers do not behave cohesively and the majority species will usually kill off their stranger nestmates at one point or another.